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For fishing, Lake Powell is only a couple hours away and is amazing for stripers.

For a second there, I thought you were talking about strippers..

WY would be really hard to beat. Pretty good OTC elk and deer hunting, Great hunting in limited quota units, tons of public land, small population, and cities large enough that you don't have to be in BFE if you don't want to be.
CO would be pretty good. Good OTC elk hunting, easy enough to draw deer hunting. Denver is there, for when you have to actually work for a living...
I'd say Montana, but there are too many grizzlies up there, and I'm skeered of grizzlies.

My mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives.

Hard to beat Texas for hunting opportunity. MLD seasons for deer, year-round hunting of some kind. Only thing it's lacking is mountains. Not a ton of public land in most areas, but leases are reasonable.

Not sure about Alaska, but I should be leaving Colorado this year, as soon as my house sells. My house is located in the best snowmobiling area in the world and I can walk from my house to hunt deer, elk, bear, and antelope, still I can't stand the politics and the liberals. Wyoming and Lander would be on my radar screen. Getting too old for the snowmobiles anyway

Well I have lived most of my life in MT, but have also tried out NM and CO for a while. Now that I am in not only the state that I wanted to be in, but the very city that my wife and I said we wanted to live in, I can point out some of MT's issues. First, there is entirely to much big blue sky, the streams and rivers have to many fish, the water is too clean, the elk bugling in Sept. and Oct. force me to take to much time off work every year, the deer eat my garden every summer, and we also have more cows than people in this state. Things that I wouldn't wish on anyone, so I hope this helps deter's you from following my mistakes.

Somewhere around Buffalo, Wyoming area. I've lived in Cheyenne twice, Casper once and both Colorado and Nebraska. I prefer Wyoming. Stuck in eastern Colorado for now and hate it. Colorado is a great place to hunt but it has gotten so crowded and screwed up by the liberals it's soon to follow California in every aspect. You hear all the time how hunters are declining but if you go big game hunting in Colorado, you know that is bull crap.
The hunting in Wyoming is great for a resident. Tags are fairly cheap; drawing tags are fairly easy and if you don't draw a tag, you can hunt the general seasons. Tons of public land and a resident can still get access to private fairly easy. What's not to like?

I've thought about this a number of times. For the lower 48 these are my two best ideas so far:

Wyoming: From a tag standpoint, Wyoming would be hard to beat. You can antelope hunt nearly every year. Elk tags in good units are relatively easy to draw as a resident and if you don't draw you can hunt the general season. The same thing for deer, and a couple of the general regions are pretty descent deer hunting letting you hunt every year. You could trophy hunt those tags then get some antlerless tags to fill the freezer. If a guy can afford some land, I believe landowner tags are available. I understand Wyoming has no personal and no corporate income tax.

Arizona: From a location standpoint I think Northern Arizona around Flagstaff would be hard to beat. You can hit a lot of great hunting country in a one day drive (SW Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico, Southern Nevada, Western Colorado). Very good late rifle elk hunts or good archery elk hunts can be drawn every 4-5 years. OTC archery deer is available. Good landowner tags are available in NM and CO. For fishing, Lake Powell is only a couple hours away and is amazing for stripers, bass and crappie. A guy could keep his freezer chock full of fish. In the winter, the desert is only a couple hours south.

Now if all 50 states could be considered, and you were flexible, I think residency in Alaska, living there in the summer and fall then heading south for the winter would be hard to beat. Salmon and halibut fish in the summer. In the fall hunt sheep, moose, grizzly, black bear, goat, Sitka deer...etc...without a guide or outfitter. Alaska I understand has no personal income tax, no sales tax, and an annual dividend kickback to residents.

Umpqua hunter, there are no landowner tags in Wyoming, and good Elk units are hard to draw for residents, actually a non-resident with max points has a much better chance to draw "hard to draw" blue chip units for elk and deer than residents do. IMO.

Umpqua hunter, there are no landowner tags in Wyoming, and good Elk units are hard to draw for residents, actually a non-resident with max points has a much better chance to draw "hard to draw" blue chip units for elk and deer than residents do. IMO.

My understanding is Wyoming does have landowner tags. A buddy of mine has property in the SE corner and has killed several 350+ bulls on those tags. After studying the draw odds the last 20 years in Wyoming I have seen residents can draw some excellent elk tags every 3-5 years (of course not the most popular in the state like 31, 58, 100, 113..etc.). That opportunity at limited entry tags in quality units is rare in most states.

I've thought of this many times on where and if the grass was greener on the other side of the mountain. I see this question brought up often, not just on hunting forums but in general conversations. From my observation it's not state specific when it is asked. What matters most and is most important to one person, may not matter as much to another. Family, friends, community, beliefs, healthcare, education, activities, jobs, politics, weather, safety, and the locations that make up our different ecosystems are just some of the things that make up our level of comfort and make up where we call our home.

I think each state has it's own beauty, wonders and adventures, along with some downfalls should one want to search hard enough to find and dwell on them. It's good to be informed, find wisdom, strive and fight for our freedoms, safety and our values. It's also good to be in a place where we feel we belong.

It's also good to desire joy and happiness in our lives but I don't think that necessarily comes from just being in a particular place. It's a bit more complex or perhaps more simple of a solution depending on how a person resolves or reacts to where they're living, their circumstances and where they choose to live.